ON 14 JANUARY 1997, the High Court of Australia delivered Queensland v J L Holdings Pty Ltd [1997] HCA 1; (1997) 189 CLR 146; (1997) 141 ALR 353; (1997) 71 ALJR 294 (14 January 1997).

http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/1997/1.html

Per Dawson, Gaudron and McHugh JJ (at 154):

“Case management is not an end in itself. It is an important and useful aid for ensuring the prompt and efficient disposal of litigation. But it ought always to be borne in mind, even in changing times, that the ultimate aim of the court is the attainment of justice and no principle of case management can be allowed to supplant that aim.”

The decision has since been used as an authority for the propositions that (1) doing justice between the parties is paramount to the court’s use of discretion when determining an application for leave to amend (2) case management principles should not limit a court’s discretion when considering such applications and (3) an application for leave to amend should be approached on the basis that a party is entitled to raise an arguable claim subject to payment of costs by way of compensation.  Since the High Court’s 2007 decision in Aon Risk Services Australia Limited v Australian National University [2009] HCA 27 http://www.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2009/27.html, JL Holdings no longer is authority for propositions (2) and (3).

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